Ry David Bradley (b. 1979, Australia) graduated with an MFA from Melbourne University in 2013. Bradley is known as one of the artists at the forefront of new artistic theories and practices exploring the impact of digital technologies on contemporary art and society. In 2009, he founded the popular international website PAINTED, ETC. (www.paintedetc.com), which explores how digital technologies and imagery are contributing to reshaping the role and nature of art in contemporary societies.
Bradley’s process-based practice investigates the nature of painting in an era where the boundaries between picture, video, and virtual reality are increasingly blurred. The artist’s new series of works reproduces images from the technological and natural worlds, which are imprinted on superfine transparent mesh and wrapped on a hand painted frame. Technology and nature thereby merge onto the canvas and slowly dissolve onto one another. Painting becomes a product of technology as much as a conscious act from the artist. USB sticks containing a high definition image of the works are also encased into their frames. Which raises the question: will the paintings outlive their digital representations or will the digital prevail over the material?
Recent solo & group exhibitions include Immaterial: Painting in the Digital Age, Sophia Contemporary, London, 2017; Realities, Neumeister Bar Am, Berlin 2017; The National Gallery of Victoria, 2017; Unvalley Valley, Evelyn Yard, London 2016; The Art of The Matter, Contemporary Art Museum, St Louis, 2016; Not A Photo, The Hole, New York, 2015; Where Do You Want To Go Today, Brand New Gallery, Milan, 2015; Access All Areas, Bill Brady Gallery, Kansas City, 2015; Border Protection, Tristian Koenig Gallery, 2015.
His work was recently featured in Painting, More Painting at The Australian Centre for Contemporary Art in 2016 and will be the subject of a forthcoming solo Kunsthalle presentation in 2018. His work is held in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Victoria, Australia and significant private collections in Europe & the United States including the Aldala Collection.
